COLUMBUS COMMONS
THE
SITUATION
Columbus Commons, an urban park in downtown Columbus owned and managed by the Columbus Downtown Development Corporation, has been a go-to spot for concerts, events, fitness classes, food truck festivals and much more since making its debut in May of 2011. With more than 200 events happening at the park during the peak season of May-September, the Commons brought in the Belle team to help promote and highlight all of the fun and free events the park offers each summer.
THE
TACTICS
To create awareness in the local Columbus community, the Belle team developed a tailored blog ambassador program by securing ten local bloggers to be “brand ambassadors” for the season. These hand-picked influencers comprised a mixture of the target audiences the Commons wanted to reach: moms, foodies, young professionals, etc.
The ambassadors were asked to help promote the different categories of events the Commons hosts by choosing three they wanted to attend throughout the event season. The bloggers promoted events with social posts and at least one Instagram/blog giveaway, allowing followers to win Commons swag and prizes specifically tailored to each kind of event.
The Belle team also secured an Instagram takeover for Columbus Commons on the popular local account @LiveColumbus during the peak of the event season.
THE
RESULTS
By the end of the season, Belle’s outreach program and the LiveColumbus takeover generated 7 blog posts and more than 30 social media posts about the events at the Commons, with a combined reach of more than 240,000 impressions and 2,700+ social interactions in the local Columbus area.
Additionally, the Commons’ Instagram account gained 135 new followers in the 48 hours during and after the Instagram takeover, a 125% increase over its normal growth rate of about 30 followers per day.